Investire in istruzione: meglio per lui o per lei? Stima per genere dei rendimenti dell’istruzione in Italia

Previous estimates of Italian returns to schooling suggest that female returns are higher than male returns (Lucifora-Sestito ‘93). This is a common result in other industrialized countries, as well (Blau-Kahn ‘92 e Psacharopoulos ‘94). The aim of the paper is to evaluate the stability of this hierarchy by changing specifications and estimation techniques. All the estimates are performed on the Bank of Italy Indagine sui bilanci della famiglie nell’anno 1991. Results with standard techniques (i.e. ordinary least square and Heckman’s correction) confirm usual hierarchy, on the contrary alternative techniques (i.e. instrumental variables) suggest an opposite hierarchy. This is a robust conclusion by varying samples, instruments, and schooling measurements.